Getting It Right
by PeaceLily22
Summary: 17-year-old James Potter is entangled in a secret, lust-based relationship with an older woman, and has finally moved on from his fixation with Lily Evans. Lily, on the other hand, has just begun to see that there's more to him than she once thought. Only time will tell how they finally get their timing right.
1. Chapter 1

Getting It Right

Summary: 17-year-old James Potter is entangled in a secret, lust-based relationship with an older woman, and has finally moved on from his fixation with Lily Evans. Lily, on the other hand, has just begun to see that there's more to him than she once thought. Only time will tell how they finally get their timing right.

Chapter 1

James awoke to the feeling of the body next to him shifting. Turning his head slightly, he listened to the quiet rustling of the blankets as she pulled away from where her head had rested in the crook of his arm. He felt the bed rise as she slid out from under the gray crushed velvet covers they shared, and listening to her bare feet pad around the room, he knew she'd gotten up to collect her clothes that were scattered on the floor. He cracked open his eyes, and in the first hints of morning peeking in through the long black curtains, he watched her tall, slim figure slide back into the lacy black teddy that she'd worn the evening before.

"Bella, it's so early," he muttered, "come back to bed."

She lifted her head, and even in the dim light he could feel her cold look.

"James, I don't have time," she hissed. "I have commitments and responsibilities. I can't just sleep in like a lazy teenager."

"He won't know. Bellatrix, please, just a little longer."

"I'm not talking about my imbecile betrothed, I'm talking about…."

She trailed off, heaved a heavy sigh, and grudgingly slinked back into bed. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head between her pale breasts. He sighed contentedly.

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

He could feel the quick rise and fall of her chest as she gave out an exasperated laugh.

"Yes, James, I seem to recall you telling me thirty or forty times last night."

He peered up at her, taking in her face as a few early morning sunbeams began to shine on it. He drank in her deep blue eyes, smeared with yesterday's kohl makeup, and long black hair, tousled from the night she'd spent in his four-poster bed. He knew this moment would not last long and that she was about to disappear back to the Black manor. Something about her eagerness to slip away, the fact that she refused to stay with him, intoxicated him.

He'd been a sixteen-year-old virgin last summer when she, a statuesque twenty five-year-old, had whispered in his ear to visit her in her room for the first time. To him, she was an experienced goddess from another lifetime. There were things she did when she left him that he did not like to think about, loyalties that made him squirm. She was practically married to another man, and yet the times he was home she chose to spend her nights in his bed, telling her fiancé that she was a clean pureblood rose, saving herself until marriage. She was a dark secret that James couldn't share with anyone, not even his best friend. A year later, and he still couldn't believe that he was allowed to slide his clumsy hands up her exposed thighs.

"You are just so beautiful, Bellatrix."

She smiled thinly at him.

"You are pathetic."

"I just don't want to leave tomorrow. Will you spend the night with me sometimes while I'm at school?"

She rolled her eyes.

"James, I think my cousin might notice me slipping into your dormitory."

James ran a hand through his hair.

"Ok, you're right…I'm sorry, that was stupid. But if it wasn't for Sirius, would you come?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No. Don't ask stupid questions. Nobody can ever know about this. Besides, I'd feel like your mummy visiting you at school. Why are you acting like a lost puppy?"

"You're right, I…I just know that you're going to marry Lestrange soon, and it will make everything harder. You'll forget about me."

She gazed at him from under her long lashes and slowly bit her lip, making him groan.

"You know what you're doing to me, don't you? You're a cruel woman. You're heartless."

Bellatrix leaned forward, letting the strap of her teddy slide down her arm. Her generous right breast spilled out from its flimsy hold. He felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Does it make you mad?" she asked, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Do you want to punish me?"

She ran her long fingernails down his shirtless back, making him shiver. She stuck her pointer finger under the elastic of his boxers and snapped them, hard. Deftly bringing her hands to his front, she began to kiss his shoulder and she lightly grazed her fingers over his hipbones. He let out a guttural moan and roughly pushed her down on the bed. As he pinned her wrists down and climbed on top of her, her eyes closed and her mouth broadened into a rare, genuine smile.

* * *

Lily adjusted her dress for what felt like the hundredth time, frowning at her appearance in the mirror. Normally, this was her favorite olive green summer dress, and she felt beautiful as soon as she put it on. Normally, it was her go-to dress on days that she felt fat, ugly, or self-conscious. The second it slipped over her head, she felt calm and confident. Today, it seemed to keep wrinkling, bunching, and clinging in all the wrong spots. Today she hated it, just as she hated every other outfit that she'd packed away in her trunk.

"Who is it?"

She jumped and turned to face her mother, who was leaning in the doorway of her bedroom and smiling.

"What?"

Her mother's grin broadened.

"Come on," she laughed, "I was seventeen once. Who's the boy you're trying to impress?"

Lily felt her face turn bright red.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said unconvincingly, "I don't like anyone."

"Mmhmm," her mother said. "You and Petunia are exactly the same. You think I don't know just because I'm an old lady now." She took a few steps forward and pushed a wayward strand of Lily's dark red hair behind her ear.

Lily took in her soft round face, the fine lines that had begun to form at the corners of her eyes and mouth. There were strands of silver evident in her dark auburn hair, which Lily knew she'd recently had to start dying. She had certainly aged in the last few years, but to her she was still the most beautiful woman in the world.

"You're not old, Mum," Lily sighed. "I just…ugh...it's silly."

"You don't have to tell me, love. But I doubt it's silly."

Lily sat down on her bed and sighed. She began to pick at the worn pink bedspread, the same one that had been covering her bed six years ago, the first time she'd left to make the same journey she'd be making later that day.

"I just…there's—there's a boy. And he—well—I mean he's just awful, really terrible, he's been so terribly mean before, and he fancies me, or he did, but I never—well, he was terrible so clearly I couldn't—but now he's—and I—"

"Lily, Lily, stop," her mother laughed, sitting down next to her and putting her hand on her knee. "It's ok. But I can't understand you. Just explain slowly."

She took a deep breath.

"There's a boy, and he always used to fancy me, but I never considered it because he was horrible, to everyone, especially…" she trailed off and gulped, then took another deep breath. "He was especially terrible to a friend I used to have. But the thing is, lately I've begun to think that maybe he isn't so terrible…maybe he's grown up…I-I don't know, but this summer I've thought about him a lot and now I've found out we're to be Head Boy and Head Girl together. And I guess I thought…well, it's still silly because I don't even think he fancies me anymore, so it's pointless anyway."

Her mother cupped Lily's chin in her hand and leveled her face so that she was looking into her identical green eyes.

"Listen to me," she said softly. "Be careful. But people really can change, especially at that age. Give him a chance to show you who he is. And as far as not fancying you…well if he doesn't fancy you, then this bloke is probably mad. Or gay. You are a wonderful, bright, amazing young woman, and I'm not just saying that because I'm your mother. You have had plenty of recognition from your school and your teachers and friends to tell you so. You ought to listen to them. And in any case, you have never looked more beautiful than you do right now, so you can stop fussing with your dress."

Lily broke into a smile and enveloped her mother into a hug.

"Thank you, Mummy," she whispered. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

* * *

James slumped into his seat on the Hogwarts Express, out of breath. Just as they had every year, he and Sirius had almost managed to miss it. Remus had already taken his seat in the Prefect carriage, and Peter was presumably with the Hufflepuffs, wrapped up in his girlfriend Marlene McKinnon.

"Keeping our traditions alive, eh, Prongs?" Sirius laughed, sinking into the seat beside him. "I've missed this place. This train. This view," he gestured out the window. "And more than anything I've missed these women. They've gotten more gorgeous than ever…"

Sirius launched into an accolade of all the beautiful women he was undyingly in love with that he'd passed as they'd shuffled to their carriage, and James stopped listening to him. His mind wandered, as it had all day, to that morning. Last summer it had not seemed difficult to leave Bellatrix behind, but this year it was different. His feelings for her had grown, and with her impending engagement, it was only a matter of time before she was lost to him forever. His mood darkened at the thought of her lying in Rodolphus Lestrange's bed instead of his.

His thoughts were interrupted when the frosted compartment door slid open. Standing in the doorway, looking tanned and healthy, was Lily Evans. Her hair had a fresh, windswept look, and her green sundress swirled around her as though she had just come running down the hallway. The large smile she had on her face froze, and her emerald eyes widened. In spite of his thoughts being full of Bellatrix, he felt his body physically react to her as it always had. He felt as though his limbs had become lead, his heart in his throat, and his palms started to sweat. She was more beautiful than he'd allowed himself to remember.

"Hi James."

He started at the use of his first name.

"Hey there Ev—er—Lily." He began to ruffle his hair, and then froze, knowing that she would be sure to make a withering remark at this habit. To his surprise, however, when he looked over at her he saw that she was staring determinedly at the ground.

"I—er—congratulations on making Head Boy. You deserve it. Really."

James narrowed his eyes, not sure if he could believe what he was hearing.

"Are you feeling alright, Evans?" Sirius asked loudly, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them. "Did somebody slip something in your breakfast this morning? Did you lose a dare?"

Lily sucked in a breath and frowned, clearly ruffled.

"I'm perfectly fine thank you. I just—I mean—I thought this was somebody else's compartment, but I—never mind. Potter, Black. I'll see you at school."

Still refusing to look over at James, she quickly shut the door, and he could see her shadow stalking off hurriedly. James felt glued to his seat. The old feelings took him by surprise, and were hard to take. Only the thought of being entangled in Bellatrix was able to force him from replaying the image of Lily's smile in his head over and over.

Sirius let out a long whistle.

"Merlin's beard," he exclaimed, giving James an incredulous smile. "Looks like you've finally done it mate!"

"Done what? What have I done? For once I haven't done anything!" James frowned and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I reckon you've finally won over Evans!"

James rolled his eyes.

"I appreciate the encouragement, Padfoot, but really, you don't need to keep doing this."

"No, really! Did you see how she was acting? Calling you by your first name? Saying nice things to you? You're in, Prongs, you're finally in!"

"Or maybe," James muttered darkly, "she's just stopped thinking that I'm the scum of the earth."

"Perhaps," Sirius said jovially. "But it's a start!"

James shook his head. They had had conversations like countless times. He had gotten his hopes up over and over, only to have them dashed by her blunt rejections.

"Enough. I'm through trying to win her over. I think she's rejected me enough times, it's time for me to move on and find someone else." In his mind, Bellatrix stared up at him from under her dark, long lashes. His conviction firmed at the thought.

"Is this James Potter that I'm talking to? The James Potter that's been mooning over this girl for the past three years, making me listen to every single rejection story, and making the most disturbing noises in your sleep when you dream about her?"

James raised his eyebrows.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You don't want to know."

"I—alright, never mind. But things change, Padfoot. I think it's time for me to move on. There are other women in this world and it's time I stopped making a fool of myself for this one."

"I've heard that before. But I'll humor you, James. As long as you humor me."

James would never stop being amazed at how Sirius could segue a conversation into the exact direction he had wanted to lead it.

"I can already see where this is going…."

"That's right! Tonight! Our legacy continues in our last and finest welcome back to Hogwarts party. You can explore all of the other women in this world that you like."

James thought of Bellatrix, and of how empty his bed would be without her. He opened his mouth, and then closed it. Bellatrix would kill him if anyone knew about them. Sirius would kill him if he knew that he was sleeping with his estranged cousin. It was better for everyone involved that he play along.

"Yeah, sure. Sounds great."

"Excellent. Now carry on. In her haste to get away and hide her real feelings, Evans neglected to remind you that it's now your job to—er—patrol the train with her." Sirius wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up, wanker." James punched him in the arm, and Sirius returned with a blow to the side of his head.

"What the—"

The next thing he knew, they were wrestling on the floor of their car. Something about the violent, familiar gesture with his adopted brother comforted him, and for the first time that day, his thoughts of Bellatrix were temporarily abandoned.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lily charged down the train corridor, her heart pounding in her ears. She looked around wildly, looking for somewhere, anywhere to collect herself. Running her hands frantically through her hair, she glanced to her left and noticed that she was attracting the attention of some wide-eyed second year Ravenclaws playing exploding snap in an open compartment.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped, and they started to giggle nervously. With an impatient "hmmph", she slammed their compartment door closed. After another moment of looking around she found a secluded nook at the end of the train corridor and dashed toward it. Once she glanced around once more to make sure that nobody was around, she sank against the wall and let out a large exhale.

"Get a grip, Evans," she whispered to herself. "Get it together."

How was it that she'd known him for six years, and yet now, now she felt like she was losing her mind? The whole time she'd been speaking to him, she didn't even know what she'd said. There had been a loud roaring in her ears and a dull thudding against her chest. She'd had crushes before, but this was different. She'd felt like she was struck by lightning when she'd come face to face with him, her friends that she'd been running to find, forgotten. All she could think of now was the dark look he'd had on his face when she'd opened the door. What was wrong? Could he have possibly been thinking of her?

"Shut UP," she hissed to herself. Her hand flew to her mouth. She was talking to herself. She _never_ talked to herself. That settled it. She was going insane, and she just had to find a way to avoid him for the next year so that she could get her emotions under control.

"Lily, is that you?" came a familiar, lilting voice. Sure enough, Alice Smethwyck peeked into the small nook, her brown eyes round and huge in her delicate, heart-shaped face.

Alice was Lily's best friend, and had been since their third year. Although she was tiny, she was feisty. She'd been the one to finally get Lily's nose out of the books she'd always had them buried in. She'd toured Lily through Hogsmeade, had her stay for weeklong sleepovers at her family's mansion, and introduced her to almost every place Lily had ever been to in the wizarding world outside of Diagon Alley.

It was also Alice who had sat her down one day and told her that people were afraid to be friends with her because she was friends with Severus Snape. She was the first one to explain to Lily, in a quiet, delicate way, what a "Death Eater" was. And she'd been the one to hold her that first night, as she would many nights after that, when he, the first boy she'd ever loved, let her down. Lily did not like to think about those times. But it was because of all that Alice had done for her that Lily instinctively brightened at the sight of the face that always made her feel better.

"Yes…hi Alice." Lily waved pathetically and held her hands out to be helped up. Alice grabbed them and hoisted her off the ground, then wrapped her in a hug.

"I've missed you," Alice said fiercely, her head just reaching the top of Lily's shoulder. After a moment she released her.

"Who are you talking to in here?" Alice asked, looking around as though she would see someone else within the tiny alcove.

"I—Nobody, I just—oh Alice, I think I'm going a bit mad."

Alice frowned.

"What did they do? I've _told_ Potter to leave you alone, I'm sorry Lily, I swear I thought they'd grown up a little, and just wait till I—"

"Alice, Alice, no, you've got it all wrong they haven't—I mean I just—would you be able to accept it if I just promised you I'll tell you later?"

"Absolutely not." Alice said seriously, her smile saying otherwise. "By later, you mean later…tonight?"

"I will if the boys don't…well that's stupid, of course they'll be having a party tonight."

Ever since second year, the boys from their year had made it a tradition to throw a back to school party in the Gryffindor dormitory. The first couple of years, there had been halfhearted attempts by the prefects to put a stop to it; those had been largely unsuccessful, and even as Head Girl, Lily was both agitated and relieved to know that nobody expected (or indeed, wanted) her to do anything to stand in its way.

"Oh come onnn Lily," Alice wheedled, eyes twinkling. "Drunken confessions are the _best_ sort."

Lily opened her mouth to give a smart reply, when she caught sight of James approaching over Alice's shoulder. His hair looked particularly ruffled and his clothes a bit disheveled. He had a film of sweat that beaded across his forehead and highlighted the muscles on his forearms, which were visible where he'd rolled up the sleeves on his sweater…She found her mouth had gone slack, and she quickly snapped it shut, swallowing audibly.

Alice turned to see what she was looking at, then back at her, her eyes narrowed and calculating.

"Hello, ladies," James said coolly, leaning against the wall of the corridor once he'd reached them. "Ev—Lily, we're supposed to be patrolling the train, or…something like that, yeah?"

Lily found herself staring at him for a moment, before shaking her head and clearing her throat.

"Er—ahh—yeah, yes, didn't I tell you that before?" She desperately hoped that she sounded nonchalant, but the roaring had begun in her ears again, and she quickly found herself losing track of what she was saying.

James shrugged.

"It's possible. Who knows? Let's get this over with, shall we? How about this, I'll take the back ones—" here he gestured at the cars behind them on the train "—and you take the ones up there." He finished with a smile, flashing perfectly white teeth.

Lily barely heard a word that he said. How had she gone so long without wanting to run her hands through that hair? To bury her head in that chest, to inhale the cologne that she could faintly smell across the corridor…she tore her eyes away so she could stare at the ground.

"Mmmhmm, sounds great," she heard herself saying. "Thanks, Potter." She looked up from under her lashes to see that his bright smile had slipped a little. She didn't know whether to be relieved or dismayed at sounding like her old self for the first time that day.

"Right. Well, ahh—right, I'll see you both later." And with that he turned on his heel and headed toward the back carriages. As soon as the door shut behind him, Alice slapped Lily's arm, hard.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"You _love_ him!" Alice exclaimed, her eyes looking so round now that they bulged from their sockets.

"What? No! No! Alice, shut up." This last part Lily hissed, as Alice shook her head, unconvinced.

"You want to marry him and have his messy haired babies. I have never seen you like this, Lily. What happened? What did he do?"

Lily felt her face burning.

"Alice, if you don't be quiet, the entire train is going to hear you. _Shut. Up._"

Alice slid open the closest compartment door and looked inside. From over her shoulder, Lily could see it was empty besides a snogging couple.

"You two," Alice bellowed, causing the couple to jump and pull apart. "That's right. Head Girl coming through. Beat it at once."

The girl went to get up, but the boy made a noise of impatience and pulled her back onto his lap.

"We're not going anywhere," he sneered. "You can't tell us—"

"Pipe down, Bones. You think I won't tell your Ministry girlfriend that you've been snogging with Ms. Fifth Year Hufflepuff over here?"

The boy didn't move, but looked visibly uncomfortable. The girl whipped around to look at him.

"Ministry girlfriend? I—but you said—Edmund!" The girl ripped her hands from his and stormed away. The boy, Edmund, gave Alice a filthy look.

"You'd better not say anything to—"

"Can it, Bones. Just go."

Silently, Edmund Bones shuffled out. Alice grabbed Lily and pulled her inside, shutting the door quickly.

"Alice, you barely speak to Edmund Bones. Isn't he in Ravenclaw? How do you know about his Ministry girlfriend?" Lily asked, desperate to avoid the inevitable.

"Frank works with her," she said dismissively. Frank Longbottom, Alice's longtime boyfriend, was two years older than they were and worked as an Auror for the Ministry of Magic. Lily liked him, although she found him to be extremely quiet and hard to befriend. Alice often complained how his overbearing mother had taken the fight out of him, but personally, Lily believed that having a quiet listener was what Alice liked about him so much.

"Really, does he?"

"Yeah, she's a troll. Not literally, but—well, you know what I mean—but that's not the point. Stop distracting me! Now, as I was saying…you _love_ him."

"Alice, that is _such_ an inappropriate word to use for this. I just—I'd say I just—no, I don't!" Lily found herself wringing her hands, feeling perplexed and cornered. Alice's face softened.

"I'm sorry Lily. Is this what all that nonsense in the corner was about? I guess I just don't get it…last year you hated him so much, you used to always talk about how he bullied Snape…"

"I didn't _hate_ him last year," Lily muttered, shuffling her feet. She thought about it for a moment before she continued, then took a deep breath and exhaled. "I don't exactly know what it is. He just...I guess I started to pay attention to the things he'd say and do, and he's not so terrible. Not really like how he used to be. And Sev—Snape, well he's not the nicest person either, as it turns out. "

A smile crept on Alice's lips.

"Ohhh Lily," she sang, grabbing her hands. "Lily, Lily, Lily, does this mean you're going to get together? Finally? Oh I've been waiting for you to have a good boyfriend for _years!_ Frank will be so happy, we can go on double dates when he's not away on Ministry business and we will have _so much fun!"_

Lily buried her head in her hands.

"Alice," she moaned. "Please stop."

But there was no stopping her. Babbling happily, Alice linked her arm through Lily's and wheeled her out of the compartment. She continued her plans for the Potter-Evans marriage throughout the rest of the north half of the train, interrupting herself occasionally to cheerfully bark orders at anybody they saw misbehaving. Lily silently allowed Alice to do her job for her, wondering all the while how she would possibly make it through the year.

Transferring to Beauxbatons had never sounded more appealing.

* * *

James surveyed Sirius's handiwork, impressed.

"I think you've outdone yourself this time, Padfoot," he remarked approvingly.

Sirius beamed.

"You really think so?" he chirped, clearly knowing that he had.

There were tables lining the right edge of the room, loaded with butterbeer, candy, and various vials and bottles of mysterious drinks. There was a giant stack of lightweight goblets beside them. The table seemed to be sagging under their weight. Meanwhile, hundreds of glowing, colorful balls were seemingly self-suspended around the common room. Upon closer inspection, one could see that they were actually being held up by doxies coated in illuminating potion, and as they thrashed about in their glass prisons, they cast unique shadows upon the walls.

"It helps that I was able to get the drinks on my own this year," he sighed happily. "We've got some of Hog's Head's Finest Brew, Nettle Wine for the ladies, some mulled mead, and at least five different types of Firewhiskey, for the real men among us." Sirius winked, making it painfully clear who those men were. "Much better than last year's selection."

The year before, the witch who Sirius had wooed into getting the drinks had found him snogging another girl the night before the party and refused to speak to him again. In spite of their best efforts to make a last-minute dash to Hogsmeade using the invisibility cloak, through a series of mishaps they had been unable to procure more than a single, sad bottle of sherry.

James shook his head at the memory.

"Much better than last year," he echoed. He frowned slightly.

"Padfoot," he said, "what if some of the first years get their hand on the firewhiskey?"

Sirius looked confused.

"I reckon they won't remember their first night at Hogwarts, then, will they?" he laughed. "What's your point?"

"I er—I mean, well in the past we never really had enough alcohol for them to get it without us noticing, really. And I guess I—well, you know, I'm supposed to be doing this Head Boy thing, it could get a little dicey if—"

Sirius let out a barking laugh.

"You care about being Head Boy? Honestly? James it's a _joke_ that they gave that to you, nobody expects you to do anything with it."

James shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"That's not nice," he muttered. He thought of Lily, and the tired look she often got when Remus's retiring ways kept him from doing his prefect duties. She'd essentially been shouldering the burden of Gryffindor's behavior on her own…he wondered if he could make her beautiful green eyes light up by helping her, being her partner in all of it…

He reminded himself of the way she'd tossed him that nonchalant glance and called him by his last name in a bitter, mocking tone. Those eyes would not light up for him. He shook his head as though to clear her from his thoughts and changed the subject.

"Shouldn't we involve Moony and Wormtail in all of this? I mean I know Wormtail's busy with his girlfriend right now, but I bet Remus would've like to see it ahead of time. He might have had a few good ideas."

A shadow passed over Sirius's face.

"James, something doesn't sit right with me about him," he said darkly. "I know he's our friend, but you didn't see the kinds of things I saw when I was living at home. I've seen what my Death Eater cousins do. They always had werewolves and beasts over, bribing them, cozying up to them, anything to recruit them to You-Know-Who. They'll be doing the same thing with him soon enough."

James frowned.

"I don't think he'd do that though," he said uncertainly. "He's our friend, he wouldn't turn on us after everything."

"James, don't be daft. Three blokes he went to Hogwarts with aren't going to sustain him for the rest of his life. We aren't going to be able to get him a job with special "sick" days. We won't be able to find him a wife that doesn't mind that his time of the month is worse than hers. The real world is coming, and when it does, things aren't easy for a werewolf. I imagine after enough rejection, You-Know-Who's job offers will start to sound real nice."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"Well," James said finally. "I don't suppose there's anything for it but to start on that Firewhiskey. How about you play a good host and get me your strongest, eh?"

Sirius grinned.

"I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
